


LIES (A Klave/TUA fic)

by prettyklaus



Category: The Umbrella Academy (Comics), The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-20
Packaged: 2021-03-06 04:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25907434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prettyklaus/pseuds/prettyklaus
Summary: After managing to save Dave from his fate in the Vietnamese War and successfully bring him back to 2019, Klaus can no longer hide who he is from his lover - part of a band of siblings who were born to save the world. Uncertainty weighs heavy on the Hargreeves, as the mystery of the apocalypse, and its respective cause, unfolds. What extremes will Hazel and Cha-Cha go to in order to retrieve the briefcase Klaus stole? Why is Vanya distancing herself more and more from the family as the countdown to Doomsday nears its end? And who is the strange woman stalking them; scrutinising their every move?Whilst Klaus simultaneously faces his own personal demons, can a relationship survive when one of them belongs fifty years before Armageddon is due to take place? Perhaps even more pressingly, can that same relationship survive when it's tainted by lies?The Umbrella Academy has way more to deal with than just the apocalypse now.- A Klave/TUA fic.Slowburner.TW; Addiction and mental illness.
Relationships: klaus hargreeves / dave katz
Comments: 14
Kudos: 75





	1. Chapter 1

— CHAPTER ONE: A SHAU VALLEY —

Fighting in the A Shau Valley wasn't something Klaus had planned on doing when he opened that suitcase on the bus almost a year beforehand, but doing it alongside the man he loved made it that little bit easier.

Before they knew it, evening had collapsed in upon the battlefield, and the virile orange sun waged a war as discordant as the war the men were a part of with the cobalt sky. Dave, Klaus, and their fellow soldiers battled their enemies on the frontline whilst the brutal sound of gunfire pierced the air; shielding themselves behind the camber of the hill they were positioned upon, and, at intervals, expeditiously shooting at the opposition, cautious as not to be injured themselves. They'd be no good to the forces with damaged limbs or fractured bones, and even less good if they were dead. This thought, though troublesome, was always at the centre of their minds, and instrumental in their every move.

Klaus laughed a little, nervous as he was exhilarated, as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead. His exhausted lungs laboured against the unbearably humid Vietnamese climate. Struggling to catch his breath, he peered over to his left for Dave. The two locked eyes, and the smaller man grinned before picking himself back up and readying himself for another round of combat. All Dave had to do was look at him with those gentle blue eyes of his, and he was prepared to face anything. This was something Klaus had never formerly experienced, and, even in these ghastly circumstances, he couldn't help but admire it.

Reloading his gun, Klaus hastily hoisted himself up, roughly aimed, and began shooting. Grenades darted across the plain at such a great velocity that they almost looked like a firework display, but not even the blares of the explosions could drown out the terrible screams of those who were wounded and those who were simply fear-stricken. The sounds were more than grating - together, forming some kind of perverted, cacophonous symphony... but who could blame them for being terrified?

Seconds later, Klaus promptly ducked back down just beneath the hilltop; a bullet scarcely missing his body. His heart skipped a beat as the ammo reverberated - the noise so earsplittingly harsh it felt like it had actually penetrated him - but then a warm sensation of relief rushed through him as he remained unharmed.

" Christ on a cracker ! That was a close one, huh Dave?" he chuckled, wiping his sweat away once more.

The roars of weaponry and violence persisted, but Dave did not respond.

"Dave?" Klaus's brows furrowed with perplexity.

He looked to his left again. Dave wasn't looking back. Instead, he was lying flat, stomach on the soil, his head facing away from his anxious lover. Klaus shook Dave's shoulders in an attempt to get him to move, to stir, to do  anything \- yet still, he didn't. Frantically, Klaus grabbed Dave by the arm and turned him over. He was horrified at what he saw next.

Blood.  Oh God, so much blood . It poured out from the bullet wound in his chest and from his mouth like gruesome waterfalls, and so quickly. Klaus's attention redirected towards Dave's eyes, like they had done just moments before, only this time the light that was usually so prominent within them was draining.

Klaus had no time for a period of denial. Dave was dying, and he had to do something.  Fast.

"Medic! Medic!" Klaus called out, apprehensively surveying his surroundings as he cradled Dave's limp body in his arms.

He yelled a few more times, shaking and crumpling his face in distress, but still, no help came. His eyes filled with tears as he realised no one was going to come. This was it. This was how he was going to lose the one person he'd ever truly loved. His heart sank.

Klaus glanced back down at Dave. He held his hands against his face, caressing his cheeks like they were precious jewels. And to him, they were. More valuable than that, even.

"Dave," he choked out, "Look at me. Look at me, okay?"

Feebly, Dave's eyes moved to look at Klaus. He tried to force out some words, to no avail. His time was running out. Blasts and screams and more and more futile cries out for medics continued around them. Dave's blood began to stain Klaus's uniform.

It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. Kisses and giggles and touches they'd exchanged echoed in Klaus's mind. His whole world was in his arms. Fleeting, fading.

Not now. Not like this. Please.

And then...

An idea.

One that wasn't sure to work, but an idea all the same. It was the best Klaus had right now. He jolted with the realisation, and Dave, his head in his partner's lap, almost mustered a smile. He'd seen that look on Klaus's face before. There was a mutual understanding that something was about to happen.

"I'll be back soon, okay love?" Klaus asserted, as calmly as he could manage.

Tears beginning to dry on his face, he tenderly placed Dave back on the floor, kneeling next to him and planting a desperate kiss on his forehead as he stroked his hair for a brief second. He briskly sprang to his feet and started racing back towards their base.

Despite the fact that Klaus was intending on staying here in 1968, a time which he didn't belong in, so that he could live out his days with Dave rather than be ridiculed by a family that he felt never needed him, without the luxury of any friends besides his dead brother and the spirits that incessantly plagued him, he still kept that goddamn suitcase next to his bed every night. He had no idea how it worked, nor if it would ever work again. And still, he kept it, in the unlikely event that he should ever want to return home. Dave always questioned him on it -  "Why do you take that everywhere with you?" "I've never seen you open it?" "What's even in it?" \- and Klaus never told him a thing. Even if he did, he'd never expect Dave to believe him. This was the 60's, for crying out loud! He'd be thrown in the loony house faster than he could say, "I have a suitcase that I stole from two people who kidnapped and tortured me that allowed me to travel back in time over fifty years."

Klaus knew exactly where it was. He could picture it in his mind. That was quite possibly the most frustrating part - his brain was there at a pace his body couldn't manage. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him, weaving hurriedly through other soldiers and back through the countless trees that led towards the base. His lungs felt as though they were going to burst, but he couldn't stop. Not at all. Mere splinters of time could've made all the difference. He wasn't about to let the love of his life die.

He reached the base. He burst through the begrimed door. He bolted towards the suitcase. He snatched it up and in seconds he was gone. By the time Klaus reached Dave again, Dave's eyes had closed. He was breathing, but barely noticeably. It was now or never.

With one hand holding Dave and the other on the briefcase lid, Klaus closed his own eyes as he yanked it open to reveal a blue flash of light, coming directly from the inside. It grew larger and larger, a brilliant and blinding flare of cerulean phosphorescence, and as it did, Klaus gripped Dave's body tighter; hoping,  praying , for a miracle. That was when the blue light engulfed the pair, leaving nothing but a silent indigo implosion behind them, and suddenly they were no longer in Vietnam, 1968 - a hopeless pit of death and destruction.

Because after almost a year, Klaus was back in 2019.

He instantaneously knew the practically chemical stench of the Academy. The weight of his body on top of the black and white chequered flooring of the hallway. The golden emblazoned banister, the portraits hanging on the walls that had terrorised him every time he walked into the dining room as a child. He was back. It  worked .

He looked down into his lap, and there was Dave - still alive, infrequently breathing, just as he was on the ground back on the frontline. Panic overrode Klaus's relief once again.

"Pogo!" he clamoured, his throat rough and sore from the yelling he'd already done, "Grace! Diego! Luther! Somebody, please help!"

Within moments, the sound of feet against the linoleum rang out, and Klaus's head twisted towards the origin of the noise so quickly it was a surprise he'd not given himself whiplash. Dave's blood was now trickling onto the floor.

A familiar voice, a voice he knew so incredibly well, replied;

"Master Klaus? What's going on?"

***

Dave's eyes opened. His muscles were weak and there was an immense ache in his chest. He had no recollection of what had happened to him subsequent to, if he remembered correctly, the bullet in his chest, and he hadn't a clue where he was. The light above him was blinding, but he could just about make out that he was in a room of some description. There was a green cabinet full of books to his left, and some kind of idiosyncratic painting on the wooden wall to his right. Afflicted with something like a fuzzy headache, but not quite one all the same, he tried to shout for the one person he wanted most in the world in amidst his startled confusion. He managed nothing more than a tiny squeak.

"Klaus?"

Klaus immediately looked up. He was dazed and depleted, having not slept for a whole day as he did nothing but simply wait in the corner of the room for his Dave to come to. The pallor of his countenance contrasted vehemently with the darkness of the circles around his eyes - wider than planets. It took him a moment to process what was happening, but when he did, he was beaming within an instant. He rushed to Dave's side and grabbed his hand gleefully.

"Baby? Oh God, I thought I'd lost you!"

Klaus began to cry again and kissed Dave over and over, before Dave groaned slightly and Klaus stopped. He'd forgotten that Dave was hooked up to a boat load of monitory equipment, and that he was likely in a tremendous amount of pain. Of course, who wouldn't be after getting shot in the chest and hardly escaping with their life?

"Did they get me?" Dave inquired, "The other side? Did they shoot me?"

Klaus nodded regretfully. "Yeah..."

There was a moment of silence as Dave processed what he'd already suspected to be true. Klaus was mindful of Dave's condition, and didn't want to overload him with any more information than what was necessary right now.

"H-How are you feeling?" Klaus asked delicately.

Dave took a shaky breath in. He responded quietly, with a blank expression on his face.

"Like shit."

Klaus giggled and so did Dave, just a little more daintily than his boyfriend.

"Glad to see this hasn't affected your humour," Klaus smiled as he sniffled, tears still steaming down his face, affectionately kissing the hand he was holding.

Dave squinted his eyes a little.

"Two more questions though."

Klaus nodded, his eyes soft and gentle, "Of course."

"What the hell happened after I got shot and why is there a monkey with a suit on looking at me right now?"


	2. Chapter 2

— CHAPTER TWO: WELCOME TO THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY — 

Before Klaus could so much as  think about answering, Pogo emerged from the other room through the doorway, ambling towards the pair and straightening his red and blue striped tie as he did - which, as always, matched his burgundy blazer and navy waistcoat. With his customarily cordial demeanour, he adjusted the gold brimmed spectacles atop his small nose so as to look directly at Dave.

"That 'monkey' has a name just as you do, Master David," he half-joked, though Klaus could tell that being referred to as a 'monkey in a suit' had doubtlessly hurt his feelings a little. Superseding a short pause, Pogo began again, "I suspect you're feeling quite weak as of now. An inch upwards and that bullet would've gone straight through your heart - you had a monumentally lucky escape."

Dave went stiff. He gripped Klaus's hand with all the strength he could muster from his jaded muscles. Klaus turned his head sharply towards him.

"I know," he said, attempting to reassure Dave that he wasn't dreaming, and that what he was seeing was definitely real.

It wouldn't have taken a genius to comprehend why Dave was whiter than a sheet right now; the lines on his face crinkled and his eyes swollen with sheer disbelief at the sight before him. Spending his childhood here, Klaus had grown so accustomed to the eccentricities of the Academy (Pogo very much being one of those eccentricities) that he almost forgot that it wasn't every day that the majority of people would meet a super-intelligent chimpanzee -  especially if you were fresh out of the 60's. Nor would they usually be in building full of world-famous adopted siblings with inexplicable powers. 

Klaus sure did have a shit ton of explaining to do.

"The monkey... it speaks," Dave uttered, as incredulously as he did anxiously.

"I know," Klaus repeated in the same tone.

The slightly larger man inhaled, jittering.

"What kind of f-fucked up establishment is this?" he began to panic, his heart rate increasing instantaneously, shuffling further away from Pogo on the bed albeit not managing to move all that much, and sweat beads forming on his forehead. He looked as though he were about to pass out. "What  is this place?"

Pogo analysed the situation and swiftly recognised what was going on. He knew it'd be best if he weren't there right now.

"I'll leave you to rest, Master David," he bowed his head, and left the room as expeditiously as he had entered it. Klaus watched as he paced out of sight.

"Calm down Dave, I promise you I can explain everything," Klaus reassured him.

Still, Dave didn't stop fretting.

"MONKEYS DON'T WEAR SUITS OR TALK, KLAUS!"

Klaus sighed, not even knowing where to begin resolving this, and put his head in his hands. Exasperatedly, he took a second to breathe in and breathe out before he spoke. "Well... that one does," he responded simply, drawing out the syllables in every word. Dave began to hyperventilate, and Klaus's brows furrowed. He had to be more empathetic. "I'll tell you everything when you calm down, okay? You're safe here. I'm not gonna let anyone hurt you again - especially not the monkey."

Dave laughed at that, and his boyfriend held his hand as he caught his breath. After half a minute or so, Klaus's gaze dwindled down to the floor - knowing that seeing the abashed look in Dave's eyes would throw him off as he attempted to rationalise this bedlam.

"I'll start off easy, okay?" he gulped.

Dave nodded.

"This place... this is where I grew up. The Umbrella Academy... it was like a boarding school where our parents were the teachers. My brothers and sisters grew up here with me too - you remember me talking about them? Deigo, Allison, big ol' Luther, Ben, Vanya, and Aidan?"

Klaus paused, his breath hitching at the two lies he'd told at once. The same lies he'd told countless times before. He hated lying to Dave, but sometimes he had no other choice - Dave couldn't know that he and his siblings had powers. The mere name "Five" would have raised so many questions, ones that Klaus didn't like answering at the best of times, which he would've ultimately had to lie about too. That was the thing about living in a time when you hadn't even been born yet: there was so much you couldn't say.

"The monkey - Pogo. He's a very smart chimp. Our dad kinda... trained him that way, I guess. Pogo was always more like our father than our actual father; it was like we'd been adopted twice over," Klaus hesitated once more, still not making eye contact with Dave - only this time it was by virtue of dreading the reaction to what he was about to say. "He um... he operated on you."

"He  what ?" Dave retorted.

"Listen, Pogo knows what he's doing - he saved Luther's life too, a few years back. He's the reason you're still here."

"You let a house-trained monkey do surgery on me?" Dave was irate as well as unsettled now. This was so much for him to process. "You didn't think it'd be better to take me to a hospital?"

Klaus had to think of a feasible response, and fast. Another lie. He couldn't very well tell Dave that the reason he didn't take him to a hospital was that he was now existing within a time wherein hospitals hadn't dealt with Vietnamese war servicemen for over fifty years.

"Y-You didn't have long left..." Klaus said. His voice seemed to almost evaporate at the end of his sentence. There was, of course, a huge element of truth within it. Even now, his throat was red raw from hopelessly screaming " medic !" on the plain the previous day; the unrelenting blasts of the grenades still ringing stridently in his ears. Klaus's mouth suddenly tasted bitter. He didn't want to think about it anymore.

Dave stared at Klaus for a moment. Klaus was still looking at the floor. Dave's heart sank. "Oh," was all he could counter. Klaus's left leg started to bounce with anxiety, and the larger man softly placed his hand on top of it so as to calm his nerves. A handful of seconds passed in silence, and then Dave opened his mouth to speak again.

"How did we get here so fast?" Dave inquired.

Klaus became the confused one amongst the pair, now. His eyes finally left the ground and darted towards Dave. He no longer appeared angry - his face was gentle; delicate and for the greatest part sympathetic. "What?"

"We were in Vietnam, honey. You told me you grew up in New York. If we're in New York, how did we get here so fast?"

There was no way Klaus could get out of this one. The best part was that Klaus himself couldn't fully decipher their mode of transit here, but he couldn't lie any more than he already had done. Dave would catch on.

"I did grow up in New York... just...  there , not  then, " Klaus started, lost for all eloquent articulation and trying his best to make sense. "We... time travelled. We're in 2019."

His partner chortled. "You can't seriously expect me to believe that? This is madness! Tell me what's really going on."

"Madness or not, you just saw a talking monkey with your own two eyes for crying out loud! I know this is a lot to take in but I'm telling you the truth."

"This kinda stuff only happens in science fiction books! You're lying!" Dave insisted.

"I'm not! You were dying and I was desperate and I opened the case and we ended up back here!" Klaus threw his hands up in the air in frustration. He became cognisant that he'd raised his voice a considerable amount and that his foot hadn't stopped restlessly slapping against the floor. Focusing on the echoes of the collisions on the linoleum, he somewhat composed himself prior to continuing. "The suitcase, remember? It was some kind of time travel machine. I don't know, I don't really get it myself. But I opened it on a bus a year ago... At least, a year ago  for us ... and I ended up in Vietnam with you. You always said I came out of nowhere, didn't you? That's because I literally...  did ."

Dave froze. As impossible as it was and as reluctant as he was to admit it, it did make sense, in the most strange way. He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"So... you're from the future?" Dave iterated, needing the clarification of the answer to the question he already knew to be true. 

Klaus nodded without any elaboration.

"And... time travel exists in 2019? It's not just in books?"

"Apparently so."

Dave took another minute to fathom his current reality. His mouth twitched. He twiddled his fingers. And then-

A flash near the doorway. In less than a second, in its place, a boy - no older than fourteen. Dark hair, slicked back with gel, a little over five foot tall. He wore a blue and red uniform, comprised of a blazer and shorts, the same shades of navy and burgundy that Pogo sported, co-ordinated with a white shirt, a black tie, a patterned jumper, knee high socks and black leather shoes. Hands in his pockets, there was an air of apathy about him, although oxymoronically, he also seemed the serious type. He had an officious expression upon his face, one that would usually be the exclusive domain of older, accomplished and consequently snobbish men who were under the impression that they knew everything there was to know about the world.

"Have you gone deaf? Did you not hear us calling downstairs?" he grilled Klaus, one eyebrow raised.

Dave gasped. How could someone just appear out of thin air and act like nothing out of the ordinary had happened?

Klaus sighed.

"Can you guys stop being weirdos for one goddamn second?!" he exclaimed, irked that he now had to explain that his brother could seamlessly teleport on top of the whole fiasco he'd just had with the 'monkey in a suit'.  He'd have to tell Dave that people had evolved to spatial jump fifty years in the future. Oh dear.  "Calm it down with the whole teleporting thing, jheeze."

Five narrowed his eyes, but then decided he didn't care enough to argue back with his brother.

"I don't believe we've met," he walked over to Dave's bed, extending his arm out to him to shake his hand, "I'm F-"

Klaus interjected. "Aidan. He's Aidan."

Five whipped his head around to gander at Klaus capriciously. "I'll explain later," Klaus mouthed. Aggravated about having to go along with yet another one of Klaus's fuck-ups, Five rolled his eyes. 

"Mom's making pancakes and she wanted to know if you wanted any," he said.

Klaus shook his head and looked at Dave. Dave shook his head too; adding a meek "thank you" afterwards in his startled state.

"In that case Klaus - get off your ass, we're going out," Five announced matter-of-factly, not asking, but telling, as he always did. His hands went back in his pockets again. 

Prick : Klaus thought.

"I haven't missed this at all," Klaus mumbled under his breath. "Why?" he said, louder this time.

"Have you forgotten about the apocalypse now, pea-brain? I need to talk to you about recent occurrences," Five replied, blunt and scornful as ever.

Dave tensed up. "Apocalypse?"

Klaus studied Dave's face, and then Five's. His eyes deviated between the two, like a child finding amusement in flicking the light switch on and off at a rapid pace. He knew what he should do, but that didn't mean that he  wanted to do it.

"Come along," Five insisted, gesturing out of the room they were in and down towards the main hall.

Klaus got up from where he was sitting and cradled Dave's face in his hands. "I wish I had the time to help you through the breakdown you so deserve to have, but this seems pretty urgent," he groaned, worn out and unenthusiastic about the conversation with Five yet to come, and then kissed Dave on the forehead. "I'd better go, but I'll be back soon. I'll get someone to check on you while I'm gone."

Dave nodded, only half understanding.

Grudgingly, Klaus ambled after Five. He heard a stifled chuckle from beside him (though there was no need to stifle it, because it was only Klaus that could hear him anyway - thank God) , and looked to his right to find his brother Ben, smug, casually leant up against the wall, with his arms folded in his black leather jacket. He couldn't hold in his guffaw when he saw the resultant disappointment in Klaus's face. 

"Aidan! Haha! Never gets old!" he snickered, "You're  such an idiot."

"Shut up, Ben," Klaus muttered annoyedly in response, by the narrowest of margins shy of Dave's hearing range. Ben followed Five and Klaus out, still snorting with laughter.

They'd scantily reached the hall when Five abruptly pivoted back on his foot. Klaus and Ben scrutinised him as he stuck his head back through the doorway of the room where Dave was laying alone, dazed and dumbfounded from the emotional rollercoaster he'd just been on. Dave, having heard Five's footsteps, looked up and locked eyes with him. Five raised his right hand to wave.

"By the way," he announced sardonically, "A warm welcome to The Umbrella Academy. I hope you enjoy your stay."


	3. Chapter 3

— CHAPTER THREE: WHEN WERE YOU? —

Outside's bleak New York air greeted Klaus's face in a ferocious manner; his cheeks brandishing cold marks of crimson which stung like nettles whilst the wind swept dissonantly over his wavy mocha hair. The intricate wrought iron gates, adorned painstakingly with the umbrella insignia across them, that guarded the Academy were about half a mile away from them now. Vehicles roared past Five, Klaus, and Ben at a virtually thunderous volume, and the familiar yet simultaneously weird odorous concoction of freshly baked bagels and ripe garbage filled their noses. Five had been rambling on about quantum states or whatever it was for the past ten minutes as he marched down the pavement, Klaus walking abnormally quickly behind him to keep up, and he only responded occasionally with a grunt or a nod of acknowledgement if Five turned around to check he was still listening. Ben found that very funny.

The urban artistry of the big city made Klaus almost effusive. Being in Vietnam for months, he'd forgotten how much he liked traipsing down these streets, even if they sometimes reminded him of the times he'd been living on them. He didn't have long to be nostalgic, however, as Five suddenly stopped and yanked him down a nearby alleyway adjacent to the sidewalk. He had a concerned expression upon his face - admittedly a rarity for Five, who always seemed so lackadaisical when it came to emotional matters. He was more involved with the 'less trivial' things in life.

He hesitated before he spoke, gazing up at Klaus tentatively.

"You okay?" he asked.

Klaus wasn't sure how to respond. He was tired, yes. Hungry. Stressed. The slightest bit relieved. But mostly overwhelmed. He didn't mind being vulnerable around Dave - in fact, he was the one person in the world who he was relatively comfortable when sharing his emotions with - but with others, he struggled. He inhaled and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, just... had a long night," he replied, opening his eyes after answering to look down at his feet. There wasn't much more for him to say than that. A shiver went down his spine as a gust of wind meandered through the dingy space between the two buildings where they were standing.

Five rolled his eyes. Ben did too. Klaus narrowed his.

"You're a bad liar, Klaus," Five said. "It was more than one night from the looks of it."

The taller brother of the two sighed. Five was the one with the most objective intelligence of all of his brothers and sisters - there was, categorically, no way you could ever get anything past him. Klaus knew right then that Five was fully aware he'd time travelled, but he decided to play dumb regardless. Maybe if he did that enough, Five would eventually give up and stop pestering him.

In retaliation, Klaus simply shrugged. Five gestured towards Klaus's neck which had a bronze chain hanging from it with one hand, and to his arm with the other.

"I don't remember you wearing a dog tag... or having that new tattoo," he pressed.

Klaus clenched his fists in annoyance.

"You know," he started, in the most credible tone he could possibly convene, "I don't totally remember even getting it." Five's eyes scanned over his face, surveying his every move. Klaus scratched at his wrist. "Like I said, it was a long night." he persisted.

There was an uncomfortable pause as Klaus continued to claw at himself. The skin on his wrist was about to tear.

"You did it, didn't you?" Five challenged, his forest green eyes piercing as ever.

"What are you talking about?"

"I can recognise the symptoms, Klaus," he made a conscious effort to annunciate his brother's name again, "You've not only been gone for one night."

"Symptoms of what?" Klaus quizzed once more.

"The jet lag, full body itch, the headache that feels like someone shoved a box of cotton up into your nose and through your brain..." Five listed. Klaus stopped his unremitting scratching. He didn't want to prove him right. "You gonna tell me about it? Where Dave came from? Because I know that story you told Pogo about him being an 'old flame'" he finger-quoted, "that you reunited with at a bar who was shot sporadically on the street on the way home was complete bullshit."

Fuck. This kid was too good. Or rather, this old man in a kid's body was too good.

"I don't even know how he bought it - he was in full army gear, for God's sake," Five guffawed.

Klaus got more than a little miffed at the gratification Five was seeming to gain from this interaction. After all these months, the indignation he felt towards his brother, and his other siblings for that matter for allowing what happened to him, to happen, all came flooding back.

"Your pals, when they broke into the house and couldn't find you..." Klaus trailed off, his nostrils flaring, "They took me hostage instead."

Not at all phased by Klaus's blame-placing snappy comeback, Five grinned that arrogant, knowing grin of his. It took every ounce of strength in Klaus's body not to swing at him where he stood.

"And in return, you stole their briefcase, huh?" Five chortled, inferring the events that had brought them to this point in minor seconds.

Klaus squinted his eyes, the urge to itch himself still present, albeit he stayed stubborn. "Yeah, I thought that there was money in it or I could pawn it - you know, whatever... and I opened it." he said mordantly.

Five began pacing back and forth now, tapping at his chin; that oh so smackable smirk lingering upon his egotistical visage. "And the next thing you knew, you were where? or should I say... when?" Five pressured.

Klaus gave in.

"1968. I ended up fighting in Vietnam."

"Really?" Five was taken aback to some extent, "How long were you there?"

"Almost a year."

Five's eyebrows both raised, as he carried on pacing. He must've walked the same six steps over ten times now.

"And that's where you met Dave?" Five asked, although it was spoken more like a statement than a genuine question. "Let me guess, he was injured and you didn't know what to do but open the suitcase again and see where you ended up? Anywhere better than the frontline, right?"

Klaus nodded, folding his arms defensively over his chest.

"And my name? 'Aidan'? Where did that come from?"

"Yeah, where did it come from?" Ben chuckled. Klaus was so tempted to shout at Ben, but once again, he turned a blind eye to his urges. Shouting at what would appear to be thin air to his other brother would get him nowhere.

"Listen, I didn't want Dave to know about us. Our powers, dad, any of it. I didn't..." Klaus's words got stuck in his throat. "I didn't want him to think differently of me. I didn't want him to think I was crazy."

Five couldn't believe his ears. He ceased his incessant pacing, hanging onto Klaus's every word. Even Ben stopped making fun of him, and that was indeed an oddity.

"I think explaining how you were named 'Five' because Reggie couldn't be bothered to give us actual names would be a massive giveaway that we weren't normal kids, don't you? So when he asked about my brothers and sisters, I told him the first name that came into my head, okay?"

Five ground his teeth together; a disappointed and sour look upon his face. He frowned as he placed his hands back into his pockets - that's where they always were when he felt someone was acting frivolously and he was annoyed about it.

"So what you're saying is, you lied to Dave as well as Pogo," he concluded. "You're that ashamed of who you are?"

"It wasn't like that, I-"

"They're going to find out sooner or later, idiot," Five impeded his self-justification. "You think you can just hide Dave away from the family for the rest of your lives? You've got to tell them both everything. You've got to tell the others everything, too."

He wished it could be that simple. The thought of exposing his true self to Dave absolutely terrified him, and though he knew it'd been a long time coming, he wasn't entirely ready.

"I will soon, okay? But don't tell them anything yet," Klaus pleaded.

Five groaned impatiently.

"I won't say a word, but you have to swear to me that you will."

"Fine, I swear," Klaus responded guilelessly; staring down at his shoes with a solemn look on his face. Car horns beeped in the distance, and a police siren began wailing - not uncommon in this area.

"Do you have the briefcase now?" Five queried, his mind blatantly elsewhere now he'd gotten the main clarifications he needed, "Hazel and Cha-Cha will stop at nothing to get it back. We need to be mindful of that."

Klaus's heart rate increased. He knew that Five had asked that question for a reason, and he wasn't sure what said reason would be. Either way, he'd want the suitcase, and just like the lies he'd been telling, Klaus wasn't prepared to give it up just yet. Klaus had even thought about opening the case again and going back to Dave's time to avoid this whole apocalypse sha-bang. That seemed like a much easier and pleasant way to live out his life. All these factors considered, he shook his head, no. "I lost it." he claimed.

Ben's eyes widened. "Another lie, Klaus? Seriously? It's practically compulsive now! Just tell him that you have the case!"

Klaus neglected to acknowledge him and watched as Five stamped his foot, hard, on the concrete, in the likeness of a toddler having a tantrum. He was angry.

"How-... God, I could've used it to get back! To fix this whole thing! To make sure the apocalypse never happened!" he lamented, "How could you be so careless? You-..."

Five was thoroughly inclined to scold Klaus further, but he halted in his tracks as he noticed something, someone, hiding at the back of the bin at the far end of the alleyway. A woman. He could just about make out her red hair, long and whirling in the wind; her pale fingers, and the matching red polish on the nails of them, gripping the sides of the dumpster to hold herself in her crouching position. The vast majority of her face was indiscernible, though her hazel eyes peered out from behind the object. All the while, she stared intently at the pair (it would've been the trio if she could see Ben); her brows creased in watchful concentration. Klaus followed Five's line of vision, and he gasped when he saw her too.

"Is she-"

Five put his index finger on his lips, signifying that his brother should be quiet. "Shh!" he ordered.

Cautiously, Five took a few steps towards her. Her eyes widened as she substantiated that she'd been spotted. She quickly sprinted out of view; her waist-length locks flailing in the wake of her form.

"Hey! Come back here!" Five yelled, but it was already too late. It was likely that she wouldn't have even heard him over the deafening fanfare of the city streets.

In nothing flat, Five seized his brother's arm and began dragging him out of the alleyway, back up the street and towards the Academy.

"What just happened?" Klaus demanded.

"I don't know, but I don't want to take any chances," Five responded. "Having someone simply spy on us wouldn't be the Commission's usual method of interception, but maybe they're trying something new. Usually, they'd just kill us."

"What the hell are you-... oh, your employers? The assassin... people?" Klaus clumsily cited his hazy memory.

"Ex-employers," Five replied pedantically, quickening their pace and still holding on tightly to Klaus's arm. He had a mighty tenacious constraint for such a small man. "But yes, 'the assassin people'. They know I'm... we're... trying to prevent the apocalypse, and they're probably not too happy about that," he retorted candidly.

Klaus shook Five's hand off of his arm, catching his breath momentarily.

"Did it not cross your mind that- maybe, and only maybe, she might've just been some- some random freak watching us because she felt like watching us?" he spoke between breaths, "This is New York; it wouldn't be the first time. I had people stare at me from behind dumpsters all the tiiime when I lived out here."

Five wasn't fully convinced, though he could see aspects of truth in what he was saying. Perhaps for once, his insufferable brother Klaus might've been right. Perhaps Five was just being paranoid and overanalysing - he did, after all, have a tendency to do so sometimes.

"Funny, you going round calling other people freaks when you can commune with the dead," Five joked with backhanded tonality.

"Woahhhh, steady there, ya little Tardis!" Klaus teased back.

"It's still a more useful power than yours!"

Klaus feigned offence and hit Five lightly on his side, weary that he now had the physique of a skinny thirteen year old boy, and Five playfully punched him back. Alongside them, Ben was actually offended that Five had insulted Klaus's power, accounting Klaus was the only one with the capability to so much as distinguish his presence, and so he huffed and pouted resentfully as they made their way back home.

***

By the time they'd reached the Academy again, they'd, for all intents and purposes, forgotten about their strange encounter with the red haired lady. The heat of the building, in contrast to the chilly temperature outside, swamped the brothers; Klaus still rubbing at his arms for warmth as Five closed the hefty doors at the entrance behind them. Inside, it was all but silent, bar the snickering Klaus recognised from the grand living room on the left. Dave.

Why was he out of bed - they'd been gone for barely half an hour?

Luther had ONE job.

Hastily, Klaus made his way into the room, his heart starting to beat a little faster between his ribs and his muscles clenching with an impromptious burst of nervousness. His eyes skimmed across the rich mahoganies, siennas, fawns and imposing shades of red around him, as well as the deer antlers showcased high upon the wall at the far end of the room which seemed to disturb him no matter how many times he saw them, prior to landing on Dave. Dave, all bandaged up, was sat upright on the orangey brown couch (the same one that Klaus had dismally smoked and drank on in the months and years before he knew Dave) in the centre of the room. He was situated next to his bulky brother, howling contentedly at something one of the two of them had said. The larger of the blonde men attempted to speak between almost convulsive bouts of laughter, but failed miserably each time; only laughing more rambunctiously as he did so. Five loitered in after Klaus, curious as to what had caused this sudden change in him.

It took a few seconds for Dave to notice the pair, standing confusedly at the top of the room in front of a gold-framed portrait, and his chortling didn't halt when he did; looking up at Klaus with those ocean blue eyes of his. The light in them had returned since Klaus and Five had left the house, Klaus noted. He took a second to appreciate them, elatedly acknowledging that Dave felt a little better, but then agitation took ahold of him again. He placed his hands on his hips.

"Klaus!" Dave beamed, his pearly-white teeth on display. He patted Luther on the shoulder humorously. "When you kept calling him massive, you weren't exaggerating!"

Klaus smiled at Dave briefly, before curling his finger at Luther; a signal that he wanted to talk to him alone. Luther finally stopped laughing, the amusement fading quickly from his face, and wordlessly, he followed Klaus as he walked over to the foyer. Five plonked himself into the armchair opposite Dave, though Klaus wasn't so concerned about the two of them being alone together - Five had seemed sincere enough earlier, when he professed he'd not tell anyone about what Klaus was keeping from them.

Luther's forehead creased, half unsettled and half irritated.

"What's up?" Luther inquired.

"Two questions."

He nodded.

"First question: why is Dave out of bed? Did you somehow forget the poor man got shot not so long ago?"

Luther threw his hands up; his pupils hurtling from left to right.

"The dude was bored! You left him by himself!" he defended.

Klaus moved his right hand away from his hip and pinched the skin on his nose between his thumb and index finger vexedly.

"Alright," he said, "And second question: what did you talk about?"

Luther folded his arms over his broad chest.

"This is stupid, Klaus. Why are you acting so weird? You're all... skittish today."

"It's not stupid at all!" the smaller male insisted, "And I'm not acting weird or skittish! What did you tell him?"

"Nothing!" Luther asseverated, "We were talking about boxing, okay? We just talked about boxing!"

With Klaus breathing a sigh of reprieve, Luther watched in dejection as his green eyed brother visibly strained to meet his gaze once more. "Sorry," he faintly apologised.

Superseding a cumbersome silence that felt as though it lasted for centuries, Luther eventually mustered the confidence to ask his brother what was bothering him. Much like Klaus, Luther didn't do very well being emotional or even so much as compassionate around others. It was a sign of weakness, and being dad's Number One - gifted with super strength - he had to be anything but weak. He felt guilty for showing that he cared for his sibling, even though logically he was aware that shouldn't have been the case. Luther gritted his teeth. As much as he didn't like to admit his father's faults, at the back of his mind, he knew that he was largely to blame. Thanks again, Reginald Hargreeves.

Pessimistically, Klaus recalled what Five had told him outside. "They're going to find out sooner or later, idiot," Five's voice resonated in his ears again. "You've got to tell them both everything. You've got to tell the others everything, too."

"Dave -" Klaus began to cautiously explain, "he's... not from around here. He's not from... now... actually."

"What do you mean?"

"I think - I know -" he corrected himself, "I time travelled, back to 1968. I met him there."

Luther was still struggling to get his head around what he was saying. "But... you can't time travel? Only Five can?"

"Yeah," Klaus nervously laughed, "That's what I thought. But, I opened a briefcase on my way home to you guys, and I ended up there - in the middle of a war. I brought him back here with me when he was injured. He was gonna die, Luther," he choked out the penultimate word.

"...A briefcase?"

"I know I know, it's madness, it doesn't make any sense, yada yada yada..." Klaus had already gone through this today with Dave. "But that's what happened, okay?"

Luther cleared his throat.

"Klaus..." he asked, unambiguously concerned, in spite of hating himself for that. "Are you high again?"

Klaus stood firm. "No! For God's sake, I'm not high! None of you guys ever take me seriously!" Klaus looked to his left at the wall, mumbling. "Bunch of pricks."

Luther stood wide-eyed, stunned at the claims the tussled haired man was making in front of him. Something about Klaus's newfound grit, his diligence, somehow made what he was saying believable. He had to be telling the truth, even if Luther couldn't comprehend exactly how that could be.

"That would make a lot of sense, actually," Luther said jokingly. Klaus's eyes met Luther's in benign awe. "I was wondering how someone who claimed to be such a big boxing fan didn't know who'd won practically any fight after the 60's."

Klaus smiled at his brother, happy to see that the obstacle of disbelief had finally been tackled.

"But you can't tell him that any of us have powers, okay?" he implored. "I don't want him knowing about us all just yet. The guy's been through enough trauma today to last a lifetime."

"Wait, you never told him about us?"

"You think he'd have believed me if I did?"

Luther shrugged. Klaus bit his fingernails.

"...Okay," Luther agreed, without a word more.

At that, Klaus gratefully engulfed his brother in his arms. "Thank you for understanding," he breathed, "Thank you so much."

Uncertainly, Luther reciprocated his brother's embrace - staring off at the wall furthest away from him - wondering what the hell he'd just gotten himself into.


	4. Chapter 4

— CHAPTER FOUR: A “FAMILY MEETING” —

Later that night, Klaus meticulously crawled out from underneath Dave, who had fallen asleep on his chest a few hours beforehand; careful so as not to wake him from his peaceful slumber. They'd spent the remainder of the day watching movies together in Klaus's aptly eccentric bedroom; Dave amazed at how far television had come since his time (when even only the most affluent of people had a meagre three channels), and delighting in the bizarre streaming service dubbed the even more bizarre name 'Netflix'. Dave looked so angelic - so beautiful -in his sleep, Klaus marvelled for a moment, tucking him into his bedsheets and kissing him sweetly on the head as he rose to his feet.

The drained man peered at the digital alarm clock roosting atop the desk beside his bed. Glowing neon green, it informed him that the time was 2:39am. "Damn it," he hissed. He was onto his second sleepless night now, but he gave up attempting to get some shut-eye a while ago; instead scowling hopelessly up at the ceiling above his bed, stroking Dave's cheek as he tried, to no avail, to drift off.

Tonight, it wasn't worrying about his boyfriend that kept him awake. It was the voices of those unyielding ghosts.

Of course, they were always there, perpetually plaguing him; moaning about dying, how they died, or the despair they felt in the limbo they'd found themselves stuck in. Usually, they weren't so bad during the day, especially since Dave had been around, seeing as Klaus was attending to better things, but they were far more noticeable at night-time when he was by himself.

Sometimes, it was terrifying. Others, it was unbearable. It was all well and good having this ability, but not being able to turn it off had proved to be a liability and a half. The only real advantage of it was that Ben could live vicariously through his brother, albeit, as selfish as Klaus felt admitting it, even that grew to be tedious upon occasion. The alcohol and the drugs seemed to be the only things that could successfully ward off and drown out the voices in his mind, hence his former addiction; although, as well as killing off the remorseless racket of the unquiet dead, the addiction almost killed him off too.

He'd been clean for ten months.

As noiselessly as he could possibly manage, Klaus treaded over to his curtains, opening them and the windows they guarded enough that they would let in some air, but not to the extent where the cold would immigrate inside and wake Dave up. Klaus took a second to study his walls - the vast array of posters on them seemingly gaping back at him and forming a kaleidoscope in his sleep deprived state, with his dollar store fairy lights being the only source of light within the space. His eyes drifted across to his bed yet again, watching Dave's chest go up and down silently. He never snored, and always complained when Klaus did. Klaus found that adorable, particularly when he was whining about it.

His engrossment wandered now, to the spot beneath where his lover lay - under his bed. That was where he'd hidden the briefcase he'd told Five that he lost. He felt tempted to open it again right now, and transport himself and Dave somewhere else - anywhere but here (certainly, any place, or preferably any time, would be better than living in one wherein Armageddon was three days away and he had to look over his shoulder after every move he made). The thought besieged him, and very much so, but something stopped him from doing it. He felt obligated to stay here, but, like he did back in Vietnam, he'd still keep the case, should he need it.

Vietnam.

The bombs. The bullets. The screams. So many people lost. So, so many deaths. And by God, the guilt! The guilt was unendurable. Images of the war flashed through his mind at a pace he couldn't handle. His head was working overtime, as the full scope of the horrifying ordeals he'd ailed through over the past months dawned upon him without warning.

Unanticipatedly, Klaus began to cry where he stood; the type of soundless crying people do that physically brings pain to them, but they'd rather face their woes alone than force their burdens onto someone else. The voices of the spirits were only getting louder in his head whilst he endeavoured to distract himself, much like they were in that mausoleum that Reginald had locked him up in as a child, on top of the recent recollections of those who'd suffered, and the shame for those he'd caused to suffer. All of this was too much for his tired brain, and he couldn't cope with it any longer. The alcohol downstairs in the pantry was calling his name, a compulsion that he'd all but repressed completely since he met Dave, but he didn't have the energy to move. And so, he just sunk down onto the windowsill, staring aimlessly out of the window onto the gloomy road, as tears streamed down his face and he shook with violent, agonising sobs.

***

Metamorphosing from a deep shade of blue - which contrasted fiercely with the yellow effulgence of the blinking street lights - to brilliant oranges and maroons, the sky boasted a newly risen sun by the time Klaus could think properly again. The man had blankly watched the street below him as the minutes of the night ticked by, for long after he became too dehydrated to cry anymore. Sniffling and wiping his nose with his left hand, Klaus was about to get up and go downstairs to make breakfast, when-

He stopped. His throat tightened. He widened his eyes, which were still swollen from his relatively fresh tears.

There, on the street, directly opposite the house, was a figure. It belonged to the very same woman from yesterday, first and foremost, whom Klaus now had no doubt in his mind was spying on him and Five from behind that dumpster. He wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been there, but he was fairly convinced she had been for a while.

It was the long red hair that gave her away.

In a stationary position, her fists were clenched at her sides, her hazel eyes concentrating just like they were the first time he saw her, sweeping determinedly over the Academy's exterior. Klaus attempted to duck beneath his window, but nevertheless, it was too late. She'd already seen him. Sinisterly, she looked right at him, her expression utterly soulless, ahead of dashing back down another alleyway on the other side of the road.

Shit!

Against the impulse he had to curl up in a ball and pretend that the world had disappeared, he promptly scrambled to his feet, closing his door on a still sleeping Dave behind him, as he made his way to his brother. He sprinted across the hallway, squinting a little bit in the dim lighting of the area when he reached the staircase that led to Five's bedroom. After running up the steps, two at a time, Klaus didn't even so much as knock Five's door before he pressed down on the handle and it swung open.

Klaus was expecting to have to shake Five awake, but there he was - sat bolt upright on top of his bed, an apple in one hand, and an open newspaper in the other. The smaller brother instantaneously looked up from his reading material as the larger one entered the room, panting heavily with a regretful demeanour about him.

"What are you doing?" Klaus inquired, embarrassed about bursting in all of a sudden whilst his brother was awake at this ungodly hour.

"Well, I could ask you the same question," Five raised an inquisitive brow.

"I asked you first."

Five rolled his eyes, taking a bite out of the fruit in his hand.

"I was reading up on current affairs - seeing if they'd give us any leads on what causes the apocalypse," he replied, matter-of-factly. "Now, what are you doing?"

"The woman," Klaus blurted out, "The one we saw earlier?"

His brother nodded, setting the newspaper down on the bed and smoothing it out, waiting for Klaus to continue.

"She was just outside."

"She- what?" Five didn't want to believe his ears, "And you're sure it was the same woman?"

Klaus indicated with his head, yes. "She was just... staring at the building with these scary eyes. It was like something out of a horror movie. I almost shat my pants!"

"Is she still there now?" Five asked with urgency. He couldn't bear the thought that he'd dismissed this so easily before. It was far too much of a coincidence. This was all his fault.

"No. She ran off when she saw me."

Five grabbed a fistful of his own hair, stress immediately taking its toll, his eyes not staying on one spot for longer than a second. This was the Commission - it had to be. Shit, shit, shit. He'd have to warn the others; they were in an equal amount of danger, if not more. They had no idea how to deal with the Commission, should they need to.

"Klaus, go wake up Luther and Diego. I'll get Allison. Tell them we all need to talk in the kitchen in ten."

In the face of this dire situation, Klaus was even surprised at himself to be chuckling in amusement. His brother, bewildered by what could've by any means been so funny, squinted at him in a cavilling manner.

Klaus continued to snort.

"You want to call a family meeting? That's your plan?" he mocked. "God, you sound like the group therapist in rehab."

"No! Not a family meeting!" Five contended fervently, shaking his head. "This is strictly professional! Stop making a joke out of it!"

Klaus giggled again under his breath, about to leave the room and do as his authoritative sibling instructed in spite of himself. "Whatever you say, Doctor Phil," he chortled, shutting the door on himself and briskly heading off to Luther's room.

***

Having woken up Diego (who, as Klaus approached him, threatened to stab him whilst he spoke in his sleep), Klaus made his way downstairs to the kitchen, perching himself cross-legged on top of the table. Shortly thereafter, Luther and Diego dawdled lethargically into the dark room, which was windowless and illuminated only by the lamp hanging over the table. It acted as a spotlight, almost, giving the impending conversations the same intense aura as one in a police questioning room. The trio waited quietly for their brother and sister to arrive; a series of ill-tempered footsteps from above them getting closer and closer in accordance with the seconds that passed.

The sound of Allison's embittered voice was in the room before she, herself was; a robe wrapped tightly over her body for warmth and her honey blonde curly hair, in a few parts, sticking up on top of her head from when she'd been asleep just a few minutes ago. This was the first time Klaus had seen her since he'd returned a day and a half ago after ten months, and consequently, there was a prevalent temptation for him to throw his arms around her and hug her. For Allison, however, Klaus had only been gone from the Academy for two nights, and the duration of what was three days for her wasn't enough for her to miss him as desperately as he missed her. She wasn't feeling quite so affectionate towards her brother, and as per usual, she wasn't about to stand for any bullshit.

"Klaus!" Allison seethed, "What the hell were you thinking? Bringing a guy from the 60's back with you?"

Klaus looked around the room at the faces of his other siblings, gulping a little bit. He'd gotten round to filling Diego in on what had happened with Dave - him barely asking any questions, not caring enough to know their answers - but hadn't had the chance to tell Allison (or of course, Vanya, who was still distancing herself from the family. God, Klaus missed her). This meant, though, that it could've potentially been any one of the brothers in the room that had thrown him under the bus.

"Alright, who told her?" Klaus groaned, completely dodging Allison's question.

Allison, Diego and Five all gandered at Luther in a practically synchronised fashion. Luther looked down.

At that, Klaus opened his mouth to speak, but Allison stopped him before he'd gotten out so much as a syllable.

"And don't you dare blame Luther for telling me!" she rebuked, "Do you have any idea what that could mean for us? How is he supposed to re-integrate into society - unless you want to abandon us again and go back with him as soon as he recovers?"

Klaus sucked his teeth sorely, somewhat upset at her accusation - even if there were a little bit of truth in it. He was starting to feel really selfish now she put everything into perspective like that. But what did she expect him to do? Leave Dave to die?

"Listen, Alli," Klaus started, "I was gonna explain, I swear I was-"

"Guys, we don't have time for this!" Five butted in to the altercation. Glowering at his younger (howbeit older-looking) family, Five's patience had worn indubitably thin. As if they couldn't astonish him any more, his siblings were already squabbling. "We need to talk about something important!"

Allison sighed, plonking herself down on a bar stool adjacent to the kitchen counter. "Okay, what is it?" she impelled.

Five took a deep breath, whilst the others gawked at him stoically.

"We're being watched - I don't know why, and I don't know by how many people, but that much is true. My guess is it's something to do with the Commission."

"Who?" Diego mouthed at the others, an open-ended query, as Five continued on in the background.

"The assassin people he used to work for," Klaus whispered back.

Diego nodded knowingly, his memory returning.

"Klaus," Five gestured towards his brother, and he waved, "and I spotted a woman spying on us yesterday, and we thought nothing of it. But this morning, there she was again, staring at the Academy like she was waiting to pounce on us. No doubt, there are others we haven't noticed yet-"

"But why would they be doing that?" Luther interjected, as baffled as he was perturbed.

"See, the Commission - they monitor all of time and space to ensure that whatever it is that's supposed to happen, happens. I think that they know that we're plotting to stop the apocalypse somehow, and they don't like that at all," Five speculated.

"That sounds... insane," Diego commented.

Five slapped himself on the forehead exasperatedly, feeling immense self-pity for even having to justify himself further.

"Remember those lunatics in masks who attacked the house?" Everyone nodded, Klaus most aggressively. They remembered them all too well. "Said lunatics were sent by the Commission to get rid of us. Obviously that didn't work, so they're probably trying out something else."

Diego, Allison and Luther all ogled at each other for a short-lived period of time, prior to breaking out into yet another frenzied quarrel. Klaus remained uninvolved, and the two surplus siblings locked eyes, Five shaking his head disconcertedly as they did so. The conversation grew louder as it got more heated; to such an extent that they didn't even notice that Vanya, in her blue coat and scarf, and a slightly unkempt man in plaid that no one but Allison recognised, had wandered into the kitchen.

Vanya was on her way to her concert rehearsal, and thought she'd stop by to let her family know that she'd finally gotten First Chair - something she'd dreamed of for years. She'd hoped her siblings would be proud of her, but instead, the smaller sister now struggled to rivet their attention as she stood there waiting for them to acknowledge her. It was like she was invisible, though this was a feeling she was more than accustomed to.

"H-Hey... what's going on?" she asked timidly.

Five and Klaus were the first to notice her; Klaus assiduously dumbfounded and lost for words. Next, it was Diego that stopped arguing, and then it was the others that followed suit. You could've cut the awkward silence in the atmosphere with a knife, but unfortunately, Diego didn't have any on him at that moment in time.

Allison cleared her throat.

"It's a... family matter," she responded, unthinkingly, in her groggy state.

Vanya scoffed at Allison's pathetic attempt at an explanation. It seemed so much like a petty dig at her, and even if it weren't one, it was certainly an inconsiderate remark. The man who accompanied her placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and she shook it off straight away. Suddenly, Vanya wasn't so timid.

"A family matter?" she repeated Allison's words, "So of course you couldn't be bothered to include me."

Her face burning with acute infuriation at how unwanted she felt once again, Vanya turned on her foot to leave.

"Vanya, wait!" Luther urged, "It's not like that at all, we were-"

"No, don't let me interrupt," she stopped and laughed humourlessly, still facing away from everyone. "I'm done."

The distress in Vanya's voice pained the siblings like a blow to the chest to hear. Klaus was fully aware that his sister was more than entitled to be livid, and a pang of guilt shot through his body. Still, he said nothing. He couldn't bring himself to.

Luther looked down at his feet forlornly.

"That's not fair," Allison countered, frowning at the back of her sister's head.

"Fair?" Vanya turned back, the sounds of her angry stomps towards Allison reverberating in the uneasy room and getting closer, until she was right in her face. Diego tensed up, preparing to split up a fight if this turned nasty. Although she stood half a foot smaller than her sister, Vanya still succeeded in intimidating Allison. She let out a shaky breath before Vanya carried on. "There's nothing fair about being your sister! I have been left out of everything for as long as I can remember! I used to think it was dad's fault, but you know what? He's dead!"

A pause; everyone flinching at the word "dead." That was a word that felt taboo in relation to their father, even now.

Vanya pursed her lips, lowering her voice and breaking eye contact with Allison.

"So I guess you guys are the assholes after all," she concluded, trudging out again with her head hanging low. This time, no one stopped her.

The man who'd came in with her stayed back for a second, taking time to look at the siblings disapprovingly. His eyes were ice cold, void of all mercy, and Klaus, still cross-legged on the table, began to fold in on himself at the discomfort the stranger brought him. The man eventually left too, and they all waited a long few minutes before they spoke again.

Well, that was a family meeting. An unquestionably dysfunctional one, at that.

His siblings' voices all seemed to haze out into one long unintelligible noise for Klaus at that point. Just about audibly, he discerned them talking about the man who was with Vanya - Leonard Peabody, if he hadn't misheard. He gave up listening as Five ranted on about the apocalypse again, with Luther standing firm that it was linked to the moon in some way, Diego insisting he wanted to avenge Eudora against Hazel and Cha-Cha, and Allison vowing to go after Vanya later on. It was all so senseless and futile. The guilt Klaus felt that lingered from earlier only worsened, and the alcohol he craved was even closer to him where they were all situated. He could practically taste it right now.

That was when Ben appeared beside him, conjuring at such a time that was just shy of when Klaus had needed him. He was too far gone now.

"Klaus? You don't look so hot..." Ben observed gingerly. His brother didn't even so much as look at him.

"What makes you say that?" Klaus replied disdainfully, his tone laced with generous portions of sarcasm, "I feel great."

Allison, Diego, and Luther left the room one by one, oblivious to the grief-stricken expression on their brother's face; rushing off to complete whatever tasks they felt were necessary moving forward. Five left last, glimpsing back at Klaus from the doorway. "Looks like it's just you and me left to figure out this madness," he declared despondently - even more despondent when Klaus simply ignored him. Then, just like the others, he was gone.

Klaus was alone now. He accepted what he needed to do.

Utilising the power from an abrupt eruption of energy within him, he ran to the pantry in the right corner of the kitchen, yanking it open, and grabbed an armful of booze. Without any hesitation at all, he set the bottles down on the kitchen table, slamming the door shoot with his foot. And he drank. Lord knows, he drank. Champagne, wine, beer - all in such quick succession.

"Don't fall down this hole, Klaus," Ben begged at his side. "You know how difficult it is to get out of it again, and you've been sober for so long. Does that not count for anything?"

Just ten minutes in and his brother was onto his third bottle. The lack of sleep, ruthlessly combined with the unceremonious consumption of alcohol, meant that Klaus's head had already started to spin. He was about to throw up, he was sure of it.

"Yeah? And what do you care, ghost bitch?" he slurred out his words, "You always like to think you're so much better than me."

Ben shook his head.

"No, I don't. But I know you're better than this."

Klaus laughed, downed the rest of his drink, burped, and then clumsily opened a fourth bottle. Vodka.

"You don't know shit."

"Klaus. Enough." Ben sternly put his foot down. He hadn't had to be like this with his brother for months, and boy, he'd not missed it in the slightest.

"You know, Ben-" Klaus said between gulps, subconsciously taking his brother's advice; leaving the kitchen and heading upstairs. Granted, he still held on to the bottle of vodka he was drinking, knowing full well he wouldn't sleep without it. "I can't even take a piss without you nit-picking at my aim!"

The pair continued to argue as Klaus clambered up the many steps of the Hargreeves mansion. Ben scoffed and Klaus garbled out incoherent sentences more times than either of them could count.

"Klaus, you're being ridiculous," Ben retorted as they reached the entrance to Klaus's bedroom, "Without me, you'd be dead in a ditch somewhere!"

Klaus took another swig from the vodka bottle in his hands, opening the door and stumbling inwards.

"I just realised..." Klaus drunkenly trailed off, ignoring what his brother said moments before. "I just realised who you sound like."

"Who?" Ben asked whilst Klaus made his way over to his bed, throwing the vodka bottle down on the floor next to him, climbing into bed next to his boyfriend and cradling him; needing so desperately to be close to him, but careful not to touch his wounds. Even in his inebriated stupor, he was so incredibly gentle with Dave.

Klaus chuckled before he answered. "You sound like dad."

Ouch.

Ben didn't know what to say. That was the last thing he was expecting to hear, and simultaneously the worst. And so, he said nothing at all; opting to leave Klaus for a while. He'd be back soon, but not yet. Not while he was like this.

Just then, Dave stirred a little, grumbling out a sleepy, "Baby, who are you talking to?"

“N-No one," Klaus assured him, kissing his the side of his head. He could smell his own breath, and it reeked of what was virtually unadulterated ethanol. "Go back to sleep love, it's still early."

Dave did as he was told, drifting back off with ease and revelling in the sensation of Klaus's lips on his skin. After a minute, Klaus's incessant mind stopped racing (courtesy of the alcohol) and he passed out with his lover, who was blissfully unaware of the chaos that had just ensued, in his arms.


End file.
